The Obama administration has given last-minute health insurance shoppers a two-day extension to buy coverage through Healthcare.gov.
The deadline to enroll in time to have coverage by January 1 was December 15. The new deadline is midnight Pacific Time on December 17.
Open enrollment began November 1 and in the final weeks applications surged, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Many of those trying to get onto the Healthcare.gov website in the final hours experienced delays while others reported the site was down, according to published reports.
[Also: Open enrollment numbers greater this year than last, CMS says]
The federal government deployed "waiting rooms" or asked customers to leave their contact information, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Going into the final week, close to 3 million people had gotten coverage through the Affordable Care Act program for the first time or had renewed their insurance.
The tax penalty for individuals not getting insurance is rising from an average of $661 per household in 2015 to $969 in 2016, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Open enrollment goes through January 31 but the coverage starts later and unlike previous years, the federal government has said it won't offer an extension to coincide with tax-filing deadlines.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse